Chicken fatteh

The recipe for today is influenced by Lebanese cuisine. It’s a delicious chicken dish, seasoned with aromatic spices and served with baked pita bread and creamy yoghurt.

“Fatteh” literally means “crushed” or “break”, which has to do with the pieces of baked bread that the dish is served with. The bread forms a kind of bed where the rest of the ingredients are placed on.

If you want to make a yoghurt sauce, you can mix the plain yoghurt with fresh coriander and lime juice. I left it unseasoned, because I love the balance with the rest of the dish.

Ingredients

for the chicken:

350 chicken breast fillet

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

5 cloves

1/2 tsp saffron

2 tbsp lime juice

1 onion, wedged

150 g chickpeas

50 g raisins or dried cranberries

1 tbsp agave syrup

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp mild olive oil

to serve with:

50 g Greek yoghurt

20 g pine nuts

1 tbsp fresh thyme

2 pita beads

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Put the pita bread on a baking tray and beak it until golden. When ready, break the bread in pieces and lay on a serving dish.

Put a pan with 1 l of water on the stove. Add cinnamon sticks, saffron, star anise, cloves and lime juice. Place the chicken fillets in the water and bring to the boil on medium low heat. Let it simmer for 25 to 30 min.

Take the chicken from the pan and lay it on a chopping board. Using to forks, cut the meat in pieces. The meat should be tender and fall apart.

Heat olive oil in a cooking pan. Add the onion wedges and cook them until soft. Add the chickpeas and cook for 3 to 4 min. Add the chicken pieces and all dry seasonings. Add the lime juice, agave syrup and raisins. Cook for 5 to 10 min.

Serve the dish on top of the pita bread. Cover with the yoghurt, roasted pine nuts and fresh thyme on top. Enjoy!